During the past few years, there has been a reevaluation of the Eisenhower
presidency. Led by Fred Greenstein, scholars have discovered a new, more active Eisenhower whose activism had been concealed from public view by his "hidden-handed" style of leadership.
1 This reevaluation has touched on Eisenhower's
foreign as well as domestic policy, shattering the image of a domineering John
Foster Dulles making foreign policy with the acquiescence of a deferential Eisenhower.
2 As a result of this process, scholars are looking more closely at Eisenhower's foreign policy beliefs in attempts to link them to foreign policy
results. This chapter is an attempt to do just that. But first, a few words about
beliefs.

Beliefs do not determine actions. A comprehensive knowledge of Eisenhower's
belief system is not sufficient to explain his foreign policy actions. Beliefs do,
however, affect the process by acting as a filter through which incoming information is processed, so that certain aspects of the informational flow are emphasized at the expense of others. Thus, beliefs can be viewed as guiding the
discussion of a given situation by highlighting the salient aspects of the situation,
as perceived by the decision-maker. This, in turn, will affect the generation and
viability of the various possible solutions to the problem.
3

BELIEF SYSTEM: ITS CONCEPTUALIZATION

Numerous attempts have been made to conceptualize the structure of the belief
system. One of the most valid conceptualizations of a belief system, that by Milton Rokeach, is composed of three concentric circles.
4 According to this
conceptualization, beliefs are distributed along a central-peripheral dimension in
which the less centralized beliefs are derived from the more central ones, lending

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